By Spy Uganda
Kasese: Kabarole Research and Resource Centre-Uganda (KRC-Uganda) has kicked off its civic engagements, starting with journalists tipping them on the ethics and principles of ‘responsible’ reporting ahead of the forthcoming 2026 elections.
The Journalists’ engagement that targeted Rwenzori Sub-region was held last week in Kasese district under the theme; “creating a culture of peace before, during and after elections”.In these engagements, KRC said it will also meet political actors and other stakeholders to ensure a violent-free 2026 elections. The districts that gathered in Kasese included Kabarole, Bunyangabu, Kyenjonjo, Bushenyi and Rubirizi districts.
Election violence can take several forms, including physical assaults, intimidation, destruction of property, and sometimes even loss of life. These acts are often orchestrated by political candidates or their supporters to gain an unfair advantage or suppress opposition.
KRC’s head of Governance & Policy Advocacy Unit, Mugarra David Abbala urged dozens of journalists who attended the engagement to be patriotic while doing their work stating that irresponsible reporting can ignite deadly violence.
”You have a lot of power as journalists, power to destabilize the country or stabilize it by giving out impactful information. Sometimes we do our work without thinking about the consequences. Before you write that story, ask yourself am I working to boost the peace in my country or am actually sparking a fire among the wanainchi, let’s be responsible journalists who are patriotic to our country,” Mugarra stated.
He stated that KRC has already set up an online platform that will be tracking and monitoring all violent cases in the 2026 elections and asked journalists to play a part in this by reporting violent cases to the organization.
”Now our portal will be tracking all the information about the 2026 elections, when you report to us violent scenarios we shall be engaging the concerned government bodies to intervene immediately. Through this we shall be able to reduce the deadly violent cases that have always occurred during elections,” he added.
Mugarra added that violence during elections undermines the democratic process, often leading to fear, insecurity, and affects both voters and political actors.
Sam Kalamiah, a facilitator from the Creations Forum Africa at the event noted that KRC will be holding post-election dialogues with the unsuccessful candidates to encourage them not to lose hope but also not to be tempted to cause violence in revenge for the loss.
”We shall be holding post-election dialogues with unsuccessful candidates at district levels. Also, we shall be meeting other key stakeholders like religious, cultural, political and women leaders both at district and regional levels, in all this we aim at curbing electoral violence,” said Kalamiah.
On his part, Andrew Irumba Katusabe, President Independent Online Journalists Association Uganda (INDOJA-U) and CEO TheSpy Uganda, urged journalists to always be factual and impartial in their news reporting.
”One thing I want to remind you is that you are not pro-government or pro-yourself, you are pro-people, the Ugandans, therefore you should always remember that you must report unbiased, and impartial news at all times,” Irumba tipped the journalists adding that many African countries are at war and these are fueled by biased reporting from the pro-American media.
”I want to remind you that in whatever we do as journalists, no one should set the agenda for us, most of those international media houses if they are not controlled by International interests, pure propaganda and this has led to deadly chaos in Africa due to misinformation,” noted Irumba.
He commended KRC for prioritizing journalists saying this is the fourth arm of government and therefore key stakeholders in ensuring peaceful elections.
About KRC
KRC-Uganda is a well-established NGO operating countrywide in different regions of Uganda.
Founded in 1996, with a research mission and a long-term commitment to understanding the measures and drivers of poverty and its solutions, KRC-Uganda has accumulated substantial experience in research and created numerous development programs based on community analyses of the activities which would be most helpful in achieving sustainable and equitable socio-economic development.
Twenty-seven years of experience in community development work led KRC-Uganda to identify a new strategic direction currently being implemented, focused on supporting the need for integration and effectiveness of development research & information, decision-making and implementation, reaching to national levels of research, information and policy formation.
KRC-Uganda is focused on strengthening its skills in the areas of: –
- producing in-depth and insightful research for socio-economic development, packaging information and disseminating it to strategic development partners
- facilitating and supporting the process of prioritizing opportunities, selecting partners, and making the decisions that get initiatives successfully started, and
- facilitating the most effective monitoring and interaction between grass root households (especially women and youth), decision-makers and implementers to see each program through the stages of implementation to successful socio-economic sustainable conclusion.
Behind all this, working with partners inside and outside the region, KRC-Uganda also aims to create the support needed to sustain and continuously improve development innovative mechanisms in the region.
